Hunt & Roskell
Hunt & Roskell opened on Bond Street in London and for many years held the Royal Warrant of Queen Victoria. They were the successors to Paul Storr who left Rundell, Bridge & Rundell to set up his own workshop. The workshop was opened on Harrison Street in 1819. By 1821 Storr partnered with John Mortimer and moved to 13 New Bond Street registering the name as Storr & Mortimer. In 1826 John Hunt became a partner and injected £5,000 into the business. The capital served the company well and they saw success growing greatly and in 1838 they moved to 156 New Bond Street just as Paul Storr decided to retire. With Storrs retirement the name was changed to Mortimer and Hunt in 1839 and existed until Mortimer retired in 1843. This is when the final name change occured as Hunt & Roskell. John Samuel Hunt, his son John Hunt, Robert Roskell Jr and Charles Frederick Hancock were all part of the company. Business did well and silverware was the main focus. Though jewelry began to take center stated with diamond tiaras amongst other things being manufactured. They exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851 at the Crystal Palace in London and New York in 1853 followed by Paris in 1867. The visit to New York was not the first time the company had ventured State side as previously in 1839 they had established a branch in New York under the name Storr & Mortimer. That business ended up closing in 1841. By the time of the Paris exhibition they had over 35 people on staff and a factor a few blocks away that employed as many as 100 people. They also worked with other craftsman of the time such as Guiliano and Hennell. Robert Roskell’s son Allan and John Hunt’s son John Mortimer Hunt joined their fathers in the firm. After the death of John Hunt in 1879, his son and the two Roskell's continued in partnership until 1888. This is when Robert Roskell passed away leaving Allan Roskell and John Mortimer Hunt to run the business between them. The following year both Roskell and Hunt decided to sell the business which sold to J.W. Benson which operated under its same name until 1897 until it was converted by company type where they added Ltd to the name. That is how it remained until the company closed at the end of the 1960s.
